Troy Guard’s Republic Plaza wine and cocktail bar opens

The custom marble bar is in, the chandelier installed and ambience is set. Time to pour drinks. Done Deal, Troy Guard’s newest concept and first wine and cocktail bar, opens Tuesday, Jan. 16., in the Republic Plaza lobby at 370 17th St. “I think it’s a sexy bar,” Guard told BusinessDen inside Done Deal last week.

“I think this area up here needs something like this. Everything is focused down towards Union (Station) and nothing is up this way.” Guard, his wife and sommelier Nikki, and manager Miranda Thomson, crafted Done Deal’s drink menu. The bar will serve signature and classic cocktails, wine, beer and light bites such as charcuterie, duck leg rillettes, crab cocktail and the original TAG tuna tacos (Guard’s personal favorite).

And, if you get really hungry, Guard said you can order off the menu of Bubu — his customizable bowl concept one level down — and staff will bring it up. The lounge itself includes cozy booths tucked into the walls, long curvy couches, and pink velvet chairs set around wooden tables, all surrounded by greenery.

The building’s owner, New York based Brookfield, approached Guard about the space two years ago wanting an amenity for those working in and around it. Guard, who has two other concepts in Brookfield Denver office buildings — the aforementioned Bubu and 1801 California’s Guard and Grace — jumped on the opportunity.

“I love being in big buildings,” Guard said. “If you’re in a freestanding restaurant. you have to get people to stop. Here, they’re already in here, now I just have to get them to sit down.” Plus, he said he likes Republic Plaza because it’s next door to the Brown Palace and the 16th Street Mall, which is under renovation.

Guard previously told BusinessDen he anticipated opening in October but, echoing others, said he hit delays getting city approvals. “The city has been really backing us up on a lot of things, which is a real bummer,” he said. “There should be a bigger focus on, ‘We want to get downtown back, so let’s do whatever we can to do that.’” This is Guard’s first cocktail bar.

TAG Restaurant Group, which he founded in 2009, operates five restaurant concepts — Bubu, Guard and Grace, HashTAG, Los Chingones and the recently revitalized TAG Burger Bar. But Guard said he’s not worried about running a place that focuses more on drinks than food. “I was always a chef until I opened my first restaurant,” Guard said.

“When you open a restaurant … there’s 200 moving pieces I have to worry about … I can’t just focus on one thing. I like doing everything.”.